Together We Stand (Hexagon Bonus Story)
by Azrakatz-Tigercry
Summary: "Say that again." Was he hearing things? "Uh, I'm involved now and there's no way in hell I'd be okay with losing one of the people I love? What? What did I say?" "You said you loved me." Cinderheart cracks under the pressure from the dark forest, thankfully Lionblaze is there to pick up the pieces.
1. Feeling Through the Dark

Tigercry: to finish the mini war going on in the reviews of Hexagon, we've created a rated-T (in terms of sexual content) featuring Cinderblaze and Hollyleaf promptly yelling at her brother in the morning. Let us stress a point here.

There is NO RATED-M CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER.

This is purely rated T and is designed so that the younger readers won't be exposed to anything crazy if they choose to read it. If you have an imagination and wish to let it run wild, that's on you to create extra details. There is no lemony content located here! XD

You do, however, get a warning for violence. Especially for the second half of this story. But if you've read Hexagon, you should be used to the Dark Forest's shenanigans by now.

Whump: a form of hurt/comfort that places a lot of weight on the hurt and displays characters going through mentally and/or physically painful situations.

THE SECOND HALF OF THIS STORY IS ESSENTIALLY WHUMP. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED (admittedly there's a lot more "hurt" than there is "comfort", but it still classifies)

Azra: this has been Azra-approved to be bonus material to Hexagon! This isn't canon due to the angst in later Hexagon chapters :::cough:: chapters 74 and 80 I'm looking at you ::cough::

(lowkey jealous I didn't think of some of this stuff)

(Tigercry: Mwahahaha XD)

…

The Dark Forest actually sent someone to kill her boyfriend. Cinderheart couldn't believe it, no matter how long she kept mulling over the information. She was grateful that it was Ivypool, likely the only person in the Dark Forest with a shred of morality, but even so the knowledge was mind shattering.

Cinderheart had known for a little while that Lionblaze had been involved with the Dark Forest, after all he had confirmed it for her on Valentines Day when she had asked. However dangerous him leaving the Dark Forest had been, she hadn't expected them to send someone to kill him. Correction, part of her had thought about it at one point, but it had never really confirmed itself as a possibility till now.

Her hands were shaking, the skin cold and clammy. Cinderheart realized it she lowered her gaze to her fingers, finding them trembling. She rubbed them, trying to still the quivering. Even as she did so, the fear knotted her stomach and sent ice running down her spine. What if it hadn't been Ivypool? What if Brokenstar hadn't given Ivypool the orders to kill Lionblaze? Would they have shot him? What if he had died in front of her?

Cinderheart could've sworn she saw something red like blood coating the underside of her hands for a brief second.

If it wasn't Ivypool would she have had to watch him bleed out helplessly? She wasn't like Jayfeather or Briarlight. The most she could try to do was stem the bleeding, but who knew how long something that rudimentary would hold? She didn't know all the advanced medical skills that Jayfeather and Briarlight knew. She didn't know how to prevent someone from bleeding out from a gunshot wound or something, she was a highschooler, a sophomore at that. Hell, she hadn't even thought about college yet, how was she supposed to be able to stop something like that?!

Her hands shook harder and she clasped them together in her lap, forcing the trembling fingers still beneath her desk. If Lionblaze was actually shot or critically injured how was she supposed to stop it? The Dark Forest terrified her, all of them were frightening, including Ivypool. Her first exposure to the Dark Forest's clutches was with Heathertail, and while she often hoped she would never have to deal with her again, a part of her knew the truth. Part of her knew that Heathertail wouldn't leave her and Lionblaze alone till one of them were beaten or dead, or she was locked up properly.

"Cinderheart?" Hollyleaf's soft voice broke the silverette from her thoughts.

Cinderheart flinched violently, blue eyes turning on Hollyleaf, to find the ravenette walking tentatively toward her in the same way one would approach a frightened stray animal. Cinderheart tried to steady her breathing. It was only Hollyleaf. Hollyleaf, who could be trusted. Hollyleaf, who wouldn't hurt her.

"How….how do you do it?", Cinderheart croaked. "You, and the others...you hardly seem afraid at all. How do you control it? It...won't leave me alone, I can't sleep, I-"

The ravenette's hand reached under the desk and gave Cinderheart's clammy fingers a reassuring squeeze.

"We're all scared. Even if we don't show it."

Cinderheart clung onto Hollyleaf's hand like it was her lifeline. She felt like she was drowning in the massive ocean of her fear, trepidation, and terror at what could happen today, tomorrow, or even later this week.

Was it really all going to be okay? Were they really going to come out on top even after Poppyfrost's death?

What if they all ended up like Poppyfrost? Manipulated and dragged into the Dark Forest only to never be able to escape?

What would happen to her if Lionblaze died? A chill ran down Cinderheart's spine and she clung tighter to Holly's fingers. The room only grew colder.

…

"Hey, you okay Cinderheart?"

Cinderheart set the backpack down next to her bed, the backpack containing the gun she had been given at the armory. "What do you mean?" She asked Hollyleaf in return and slipped beneath the soft sheets of her bedding. Settling down on her left side toward the window and away from Hollyleaf. Getting a glimpse of the surrounding stars and letting the sight of so many twinkling stars calm her down.

"You've been pretty spaced out today," Hollyleaf pointed out, her voice concerned and stern like she expected a response from her friend. "Plus that whole thing in Mousefur's class? Cindy, you looked like you thought I was the spawn of the devil himself or something."

Cinderheart pulled the blankets up past her shoulders, letting the edge of the mint smelling blanket rest near her nose. She said nothing, mulling over what to say and how to reassure her friend that she was fine when in reality she wasn't. She hated lying and had been told before that she was a horrible liar, but a half-truth? She could try to pull that off and see how it went.

"I'm not joking when I say this Cinderheart, but the expression on your face was as if you thought I was going to kill you or something." There was rustling of blankets on Hollyleaf's side of the room as the other girl no doubtedly settled down for bed. "I know the Dark Forest thing is a lot to process," Hollyleaf's contact lenses made a wet kind of noise as they were taken out, "but dwelling on it until you drive yourself into insanity doesn't help any of us. Not Lionblaze, or Ivypool, or me, and certainly not yourself."

"I know," Cinderheart eventually spoke as the lights flickered off. Bathing the room in the inky darkness of the night. "I'm okay," she reassured her friend quietly, "It's just…"

"Hard to deal with?" Hollyleaf supplied, her voice muffled, likely from her pillow or blankets.

"Yeah," Cinderheart let her finish the sentence. It wasn't what she was originally going to say, but it worked, and it was Hollyleaf's words, not hers.

Cinderheart's mind must have distorted time until she felt like she had been laying there for hours. It was hard, trying to get the gruesome images playing through her head to stop long enough for her rest. She forced herself to relax, and let the hum of the engines lull her to sleep.

…

The pain in her back was excruciating, the marks in her skin and flesh from Heathertail's whip before Lionblaze had rescued her were on fire. Her breathing was harsh and messy, stinging through the pain riddling her body and making it hard to focus.

Despite all of that, the wham of bodies forcefully colliding still made her heart pound ominously. "Cinderheart, I said go!", Lionblaze bellowed, pulling back his shock batons for another strike. His assailant didn't let him, diving at his side. The knife went through his side with a sickening, tearing noise.

Cinderheart, who had begun to run, turned on her heel. The strawberry blond was doubled over, desperately clutching at the gaping wound. Blood squelched up through his fingers and soaked fabric. The crimson was everywhere, getting on the floor, flecking the wall.

Any thought in Cinderheart's mind came to a grinding halt. The skin around the gash sagged open, making it resemble a massive, bloody maw.

"Lionbla-", she choked out.

The crack of a gunshot ate the rest of Cinderheart's sentence and it was accompanied by a cry of agony.

Cinderheart felt her body hit the ground, falling to her stomach with her hands beneath her shoulders while her blue eyes couldn't avoid the sight in front of her.

Lionblaze had crumpled to the floor and had curled in on himself, his fingers scrabbling at the wounds but the blood just kept coming. He was dying. Dying, quickly and painfully.

Cinderheart struggled back to her feet, feet sliding haphazardly a few times on the tiles in her haste to get up. The scream that echoed off the polished walls couldn't be hers, right? This couldn't be happening. Yet… here it was. She could distantly hear a mournful, agonized wail in her own voice ringing in her ears.

Lionblaze fell onto his back, blood bubbling at his lips while he gave hacking coughs. Each cough sending waves of panic through Cinderheart's body.

Her attention turned tunnel vision, not paying any attention to the Dark Forest members hurrying down the halls and scattering. All that mattered at this moment was Lionblaze.

"No… no, no this can't be happening," Cinderheart pleaded, her voice breaking as she threw herself onto her knees next to Lionblaze and pressed down against the source of the blood soaking through Lionblaze's shirt. "This can't be happening…"

But the coughing and blood was real, the warm fluid sticking to Cinderheart's hands as she tried to stop the bleeding. Knowing it was hopeless just by how quickly her knees grew soaked in the crimson as the puddle around Lionblaze's injured torso grew.

"No… StarClan please… this isn't real!" Cinderheart tried denying it again, but the proof was right in front of her.

"Cinder...heart…" Lionblaze coughed up blood with each syllable, speaking her name while his amber eyes struggled to focus on her. He lifted one of his hands, bending a shaking arm at the elbow, and brushing the back of his fingers over one of her cheeks. His fingers pulling away glistening from tears Cinderheart hadn't noticed,"I'm sorry…"

"No!" Cinderheart pressed down harder, making him groan and cough up more blood. "This wasn't supposed to happen when I transferred here! I wasn't supposed to get caught up in a war and watch my boyfriend die!"

"I know… I'm sorry…" Lionblaze coughed and when his fingers touched her face again Cinderheart couldn't help but give a heaving breath and start flat out crying.

"This can't be real!" Cinderheart abandoned putting pressure against his chest and gripped his hand with both of hers, blue eyes round with fear and watering with tears. "Don't die on me…"

Lionblaze's eyes were apologetic for a few moments before he gave a series of hacking coughs, with Cinderheart helpless to do anything but hold tighter onto his hands and look at him. Her vision half blurred by tears.

"Please…" Cinderheart whimpered as Lionblaze relaxed, looking like the coughing had taken it all out of him. "I love you..." the words escaped her lips without thinking, wanting to believe it was just a dream and that it wasn't truly happening.

Lionblaze said nothing, but Cinderheart felt his hand squeeze hers for a moment, giving it one last, reassuring press even as his head lolled to one side. His fingers slowly slipped out from between both of her smaller, blood stained hands. His arm, now limp, fell to the floor with a dull thump.

"Lionblaze…" The name escaped Cinderheart's lips in the form of a whimper. The girl temporarily frozen in place, blue eyes glazed with tears and glassy with the mind shattering shock of the situation she was in.

"Lionblaze! Cinderheart!" Cinderheart barely recognized the words, the words sounding like they belonged underwater. Distorted and broken as Cinderheart's blue eyes refocused, shakily turning toward the shadows of the hallway where sharp icy blue pools looked back at her. A familiar face framed by blonde curls streaked by blood and accompanied by a whip.

Cinderheart wobbled, the adrenaline in her body finally wearing out and causing the silverette's body to lurch forward.

"Someone call Firestar!"

"Cinderheart!" Cinderheart heard Hollyleaf's voice but not what she said, her eyes locked on icy blue eyes even as her aching body gave out beneath her and sent her to the ground. Her head colliding with Lionblaze's bloody shirt as her back flared in agony and a cry of pain and grief escaped Cinderheart's throat the form of something she could only dimly understand, her cheek resting on the sticky fabric of his shirt. He couldn't be gone, this couldn't have happened to her..

"We need Leafpool and Spottedleaf right now!"

Someone had rushed to Cinderheart's side, trying to pry her off the still warm corpse. "Cindy, I'm going to need you to back away from the body…."

"No!" Cinderheart's fingers grasped desperately at Lionblaze's shirt, refusing to believe what had happened. Denying that he was gone, that she had watched him bleed out and die.

Someone was trying to pull her fingers free of the fabric and separate him from her. "NO!" Cinderheart's fingers tightened around the fabric, fighting back against the person pulling her away from him. "NO!"

"Come on Cindy…" the person's voice was breaking, wobbling with tears of her own.

"No! He's not gone!" Cinderheart refused, struggling against the duo of people now trying to pull her away from him. Lionblaze's body was still warm, she could still smell his scent beneath the copper tang of blood in her nose, and she couldn't believe what had happened. "No! Don't take him away from me!"

"Cinderheart…" Someone's hands touched her wrists and Cinderheart lifted her head and looked at the person, her vision blurred by tears.

"Don't… don't make me…" Cinderheart spoke brokenly, "he's not… it didn't happen…"

Green eyes looked back at her. Eyes hounded by grief and heartbreaking pain of losing her brother. "I'm sorry Cinderheart…" Hollyleaf's voice broke, wobbling on the syllables of her brother's name. "Lionblaze's gone… He's can't come back."

"Lion...blaze…" The name escaped Cinderheart's lips as her eyes forced themselves open to see tear ridden green eyes. "no..."

"I know," Hollyleaf's voice was breaking as she pulled Cinderheart up and into a tight hug, "he's gone Cinderheart..."

"Lionblaze…" Cinderheart broke, her world shattering into small pieces at the confirmation that yes, he was gone, the Dark Forest had finally caught up with him and had taken their revenge.

"Cinderheart!"

"CINDERHEART!"

Cinderheart jolted awake and upright with a broken sob and found concerned and frightened green eyes staring back at her. A face she had just seen seconds ago wearing a similar expression.

Hollyleaf's hands were on her shoulders like she had been shaking her for a while trying to wake her up. "Great StarClan, are you okay?" She asked with a sigh of relief and dropped from her knees to be sitting side saddle on the bed while tugging the sheets free from being tangled around Cinderheart's legs.

"Y-yeah," Cinderheart brought a hand to her face, touching the skin beneath her left eye and finding that her fingers came away wet from her tears. "I'm o-okay."

"What kind of hellish dream was that?" Hollyleaf asked as she finished detangling the blankets from her friend's lower legs and sat there beside her. "You were crying and everything."

Cinderheart cringed and ran a hand through her sweat dampened hair. "Did I do anything else?"

Hollyleaf gave her a wry look. "I think half the Thunder dorms might be awake by now, but other than that, no."

Cinderheart groaned and swung her legs over the side of her bed. "Go back to bed," she mumbled as she stood up on slightly shaky legs, "I'm going to go take a shower."

"Okay," Hollyleaf agreed, but her voice went soft with concern, "It's only eleven though, I'd go back to sleep too if I were you. You've only been asleep for less than an hour."

Cinderheart quietly thanked her for her advice and pulled clean pajamas out of her drawers before heading for the bathroom, feeling her mind spinning at a million miles a minute. It was all just a nightmare? She mused dumbfounded as she shut the bathroom door behind her, activated the lock just in case Hollyleaf got too worried, and headed toward the shower.

When was the last time she'd even had a nightmare of this scale, outside of the last few days? She vaguely remembered waking up in tears back in 3rd grade and being comforted by her mother. She hadn't had a single one after that, Cinderheart reflected as she stripped down and fiddled with the settings of the shower, cranking the heat up to the highest setting. Minty steam filled the shower and fogged the bathroom mirror, filling her chest with a pleasant, comfortable warmth.

The water helped her tense muscles from the nightmare unwind and relax. Even so Cinderheart just stood there under the water for a few moments, blue eyes distantly focused on nothing in particular. Parts of the nightmare that her consciousness remembered drifting to the front of her mind in snippets. It felt so real though…

She lifted her hands, finding them clean and unmarred like they always were. There were no traces of Lionblaze's blood in the nightmare on her hands, her skin was completely clean of the blood. She checked her nail beds, expecting to find them crusted in red.

"I watched him die", she mumbled to herself.

Cinderheart's hands started shaking again and the girl silently slid down the shower wall, her face pressed against her knees with her arms wrapped around her knees. Silently trembling as the reality of the nighmare really hit her. StarClan… she saw Lionblaze get shot and bleed out in front of her. She actually saw him die. Cinderheart felt the hot water soaking her skin and silver hair, the physical sensation grounding her to reality even as her mind wandered back to the nightmare.

What does it mean to see him die like that? Cinderheart couldn't help but wonder and what would her parents think if they heard about it? That made Cinderheart push herself to her feet and grimace. Knowing her parents, they probably send her to the nearest trauma therapist. With that grimacing note, Cinderheart felt stronger, more focused.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the shower. She could do this.

But… Cinderheart paused as she moved to swing her legs back up onto the bed. Chewing on her lower lip, she threw a thoughtful glance at the door.

After a moment she got to her feet and silently headed toward the entrance of the room, glancing at Hollyleaf's curled up form in the process, wanting to make sure. She pressed her hand to the azure lockscreen, letting the machinery analyze her palm. The door slid open, completely silent. Checking once again that Hollyleaf was still, Cinderheart slipped out the door and headed to Lionblaze's dorm.

…

Cinderheart's scream had indeed woken up half the dorms. Lionblaze hadn't been asleep yet, having had Jayfeather tending to one of his older injuries. The strawberry blond rubbed at his temples, debating on whether he should go check on Cinderheart or not. He didn't think he'd ever heard that level of terror in her voice, not even when Heathertail had gone after her last month.

Jayfeather had already been down to Hollyleaf's room to make sure the silverette was okay. Upon coming back to the boys' dorm, he reassured Lionblaze that a nightmare was the culprit. Lionblaze, however, was skeptical. No ordinary night terror would cause that kind of a scream.

So now he was worriedly pacing around the room, practically wearing a groove into the floor.

"You're going to give yourself gray hair. Calm down, Stars." Lionblaze didn't respond. Jayfeather, fed up with the pacing, grabbed the Agatha Christie book Briarlight had given him, and headed out toward the library.

…

Upon finding out exactly what had been in her nightmare, he felt sick with guilt.

"I won't let anything happen to you Cinderheart."The words had just escaped his mouth when Cinderheart turned on him.

"Blaze, don't make promises you can't keep. Our chances of pulling through are practically zero, and I know that." Cinderheart cut him off. Her eyes were burning like coals as she spoke. "I don't want you to keep sacrificing your own safety for mine, Hhw do you think I feel, hm? Knowing that I can't defend myself, that someone keeps having to save me?"

Well, at least she wasn't completely hysterical anymore.

The cool, in-control Cinderheart was gone. Her voice contained nothing but raw emotion. In a way, Lionblaze was grateful for her honesty.

He'd never understand girls completely, but he had comprehended that Cinderheart's nightmare had obviously shaken her up. The night terrors and the situation itself, both were his fault.

His relationship with her had pulled her into this mess. Brokenstar saw her as a means to get through to Lionblaze. Brokenstar knew that the best way to put someone through hell was not to kill them. No, the best way to make someone absolutely miserable was to kill someone close to them, and then watch the grief-induced mental breakdown that followed.

The guilt hit him again like a punch to the gut and he spoke without thinking.

"I dragged you into this mess Cinderheart", he said, then opened his mouth for what must have been the fifth or so apology that night.

"Damn straight you did" Cinderheart huffed irritably, cutting his apology short. "But I'm involved now. And there's no way in hell I'll sit back and watch the Dark Forest hurt someone I love."

Lionblaze blinked, finding it hard to process what she had said. "Come again?"

Cinderheart gave him an odd look, "What?"

"Just repeat what you said before," Lionblaze urged, unable to believe his ears.

Cinderheart looked puzzled, "Uh, there's no way in hell I'll sit back and watch the Dark Forest hurt someone I love? I don't get it, what did I say?" She spoke the words slowly, continuing to look bemused.

A goofy grin broke out over Lionblaze's face and Cinderheart looked concerned.

"What? What did I say?", she repeated.

Lionblaze looked at her, the goofy grin not going away any time soon. "You said you loved me."

Cinderheart blinked and her mouth moved like she was repeating her words again. She clapped her hands to her mouth. "Oh my Stars, I did!"

Lionblaze grinned at her, "I've never heard you say that before."

"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I've said it at least once." Cinderheart asked, finger to her lips, thinking with a pink blush spreading over her cheeks.

"Nope", he snickered. "First time."

The teasing smile changed as he cantered over to her, amber eyes softening as his hands placed themselves on both sides of her face. A deeper hue swirling around the amber pools of his eyes as he spoke, his breath tickling her skin from the proximity of their faces. "There's a first time for everything…"

The air between them was different now, the air charged with a silent tension that words couldn't break nor express, and yet… Cinderheart found herself being totally okay with it.

She didn't fight the cautious touch of his lips against hers, instead melting into the kiss and pulling him closer by the shirt.

She didn't fight it at the kiss grew deeper, hinting at something else as Lionblaze pulled her closer, fingers straying at her waist.

"Tell me if you want me to stop," his words were spoken softly into her ear, his voice slightly deeper than usual.

She nodded but didn't say anything, letting her actions speak for her as the lights flickered off and a weight on Cinderheart's shoulders vanished.

…

It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the soft light of the room of the morning, soft artificial light of the light adjusting to what it would look like on earth. Her body felt sluggish and tired, but not in a bad way, not like after a particularly rough practice by Ashfur.

Cinderheart gave a muffled yawn and propped herself up on one arm to manage to peer at the clock, finding it just after 5:45. Thirteen minutes till six.

A mumble in complaint from Lionblaze at the girl intertwined with him moving around, made Cinderheart and her sleepy mind relax.

"Get back here," Lionblaze murmured, amber eyes cracked open now and partially awake.

Cinderheart sank back into the mattress and sheets with an unintelligible murmur of her own but didn't bother to move otherwise. She felt too lazy to really move, comfortable and warm enough where she was, so she just shut her eyes and relaxed further, feeling sleep tugging at her.

Lionblaze gave a grunt and his arms snaked themselves more comfortably around her midriff, pulling her closer and burying his nose into the top of her head.

Cinderheart didn't mind, lying there, intertwined with him for a few minutes. Feeling more comfortable and warm than before along with a blissful sense of safety like nothing could get her right here.

...

"Has anyone seen Cinderheart?", Hollyleaf burst out at breakfast, looking worried. "I haven't seen her since last night and I'm scared something might have happened."

Jayfeather snickered. "Oh, she's more than fine. At least, she'd better be. I slept on Berrynose's dorm couch last night. If Lionblaze sucks, it sure as hell isn't my fault."

Hollyleaf rolled her eyes. "It's almost like you enjoy speaking in riddles. Dude. Where is she?"

Briarlight giggled into her fist and muttered something about Hollyleaf being too innocent for her own good, then led the way out of the Dining Hall. Hollyleaf followed, munching on a rasher of bacon.

Briarlight snickered, making a snide comment about "protein".

"What's going on?" She asked them in confusion as they walked, yet both said nothing as he walked up the staircase to his and Lionblaze's bedroom.

They remained silent even as Jayfeather pressed his hand against the locking mechanism and the door opened open with the sound of quiet hinges.

Revealing the couple asleep, au naturale.

Jayfeather sighed dramatically. "Sexiled by my own brother. Lionblaze, you'd better wash the sheets."

Lionblaze was facing them, arms wrapped comfortably around Cinderheart's torso, his bronze biceps in sharp contrast with Cinderheart's much fairer skinned back.

Hollyleaf's face turned pink and she stumbled over saying anything, trying to get at least one word out over her embarrassment and indignation.

For the covers had ridden down to Cinderheart's waist, and revealed practically everything. The blankets were tangled comfortably at their legs and the couple was snuggled together, dead asleep.

"W-what?!" Hollyleaf squeaked and Jayfeather chuckled before walking away. Intending to avoid his sister's incoming yell.

"LIONBLAZE!"

...

Lionblaze grinned awkwardly at his brother as he sat down next to him in the cafeteria during breakfast after Holly's embarrassed lecture, his reddish blonde hair still slightly flattened on one side.

Hollyleaf was likely still in the dorms with Cinderheart, the latter of which had taken to hiding in Lionblaze's bathroom, her face seemingly permanently dyed red since Hollyleaf's yell and arrival.

Cinderheart had been more embarrassed than Hollyleaf, first hiding in a ball under the sheets while Lionblaze laughed and after taking refuge in his bathroom. Refusing to come out while anyone was there.

Lionblaze had found it adorable, having never seen Cinderheart that embarrassed and adorably stuttering and red in the face.

"Hey…" Lionblaze spoke slowly to his brother, having secluded himself with him to obviously escape the other guys. Particularly Harespring who had somehow heard about what had happened and had been hounding him for details. "So…"

Jayfeather didn't move his head nor speak at first to respond to his brother's greeting and words. Rather the blind teen silently put down his fork, lifted his hand, and offered his brother a fistbump and a rather deadpanned comment. "Well? How was it?"

Lionblaze's cheeks colored pink and he nodded into his plate but did bump his larger fist against his brother's smaller one, "You suck."

"I know," Jayfeather smirked in response and nodded toward the cafeteria door, "and here comes your princess oh brother of mine."

Lionblaze looked up and followed Jayfeather's nod, catching eye contact with Cinderheart.

Who had been trailing semi awkwardly behind the black haired girl, her blue eyes awkwardly avoiding the stares from various tables. Her cheeks and face still a telltale shade of embarrassed red. When he caught eye contact with her though her face turned even redder and she offered him a small adorably awkward smile before looking away and focusing on her red best friend and what looked like apologizing to her in a low voice.

Lionblaze couldn't help but smile.

End Bonus Chapter

_**Tigercry: **__Ah, Holly's yelling and all their mutual embarrassment XD Anyway, I hope you all liked the piece even if the original Hexagon request wasn't interesting to you, and onto the second part!_

_**Azrakatz**_: _if you haven't figured out what au naturale means then you're probably too young to be reading this lol. _

_**Tigercry: **__Wow Azra, what a way to emphasize that particular detail XD_

Azra out!

See you guys next time!

~Tigercry


	2. Shadowed by Jealousy

Ivypool's POV:

I could feel her eyes on my back. Their presence had been there since the first minute of practice where Ashfur had us pair up and practice alone or with a partner. I had been waiting patiently for about twenty-minutes now for her stare to go away, and yet it hadn't yet, and now I was getting worried.

"What, Cinderheart?" I stopped dribbling my soccer ball and turned to look at the silver haired girl. Schooling my features into cool tranquility and effectively remaining unfazed by Cinderheart's piercing blue gaze.

Cinderheart blinked, visibly refocusing on the world around her, and I noticed the wary gleam in her eyes. No doubt uneasy about the orders I had been given to kill her boyfriend. After a moment however, Cinderheart stopped juggling her soccer ball as well and approached me. A rather conflicted expression written all over her face.

I felt a pang of guilt at her conflicted expression. Cinderheart looked years older than she had when she first arrived at Hexagon. The exhaustion hiding in the young girl's bones visible with the soft limp from her bad ankle and usually accompanied by clammy skin and bags under her tired eyes. Even so, there was an air of constant high alert about her, as if she was ready to react to every situation. The Cinderheart now, as opposed to the Cinderheart back in September, may as well have been a completely different person. She had been an average high school student at the beginning of her transfer, trusting and somewhat naïve with bright and curious blue eyes. Then she caught Lionblaze's attention, and within a month or so had Heathertail breathing down her neck like the grim reaper or a wild tiger waiting to strike. (Mwahahaha! Name reference! Xd)

Now? Now Cinderheart was as mentally broken and scarred as Lionblaze and I with physical scars to match. The glass in her shoes, broken ankle and ribs, and even the results of the fist fight with Heathertail with the whip marks in her shoulder.

And whose fault was it? It was mine and Lionblaze's fault. Because we should've protected her. I should've been less than a coward and protected the transfer from Heathertail's malicious clutches.

"I don't completely trust you," Cinderheart's words were harsh, and it only went to show how much she had changed. I knew it was only because of my orders. My presence in a way threatened Lionblaze's life in her eyes because she wasn't sure if I could truly be trusted. Not that I blamed her, not with Heathertail being her first exposure to the Dark Forest.

I had to tell her all of it, she would need it to survive Heathertail's clutches once again.

"I know," I responded in an even tone and nodded my head toward her in a questioning way. "How are your ribs?"

Cinderheart blinked and her fingers went instinctively to where Heathertail had broken her ribs at the festival, "My ribs?"

A cheeky, lighthearted smirk spread across my face. "Yeah, a lot of...", I searched for an appropriately teasing word, "...vigorous activity, makes them act up right?"

It took Cinderheart a few moments to get the joke. She then promptly turned an extraordinary shade of scarlet. "Fucking school gossip."

I waved my hand dismissively and played her a neat pass. "If I'm being serious though, I don't think it's a good idea that you hooked up."

Cinderheart opened her mouth in protest. "If you go Hollyleaf on me, Ivypool I swear I'll-"

I snorted. "No, no, I don't care about the nasty shit itself. More the aftermath, and I don't mean any of the typical stuff." I promptly flicked the ball up, letting it bounce up and down on each thigh for a moment before bumping it over my head to do a neat header to Cinderheart. Where I then gave her a meaningful look. "Heathertail is a spawn of the devil itself, no one who's seen the shit she drags everyone through can deny it. However, she saves her energy for you Cinderheart. In the entire time I've been here I haven't seen her as vicious with anyone as she is with you."

Cinderheart cocked her head to one side, confusion misting over her blue eyes. "I feel like there's something I'm missing here. All I've done is get the attention of her boyfriend-"

I cut her off with a long a look, "you've got more than that Cinderheart."

Cue a flush of pink over Cinderheart's face.

"Shut up," Cinderheart mumbled and seemed to try and will the blush off of her face, "and tell me what I'm missing."

I obliged. "Alright, alright, but you walked into that one. Look, in middle school Heathertail asked Lionblaze out like five or six times. If you think she's annoyingly pretentious about her looks now she was just as bad in middle school. Boys considered her hot even back then and after Lionblaze rejected her those times the other guys started to get on his case about rejecting her. So he accepted the next time she asked."

Cinderheart rolled her eyes, "Ivypool you just described every middle school relationship ever. Relationships out social obligation and not because the couple actually like each other."

"That's where you're wrong Cinderheart. Heathertail and Lionblaze both come from ridiculously rich families, and she spent a lot of time with siblings when she was younger. She really, really liked him and Lionblaze never really felt the same way. Look, my point is that Heathertail has unsuccessfully been trying to win his affections for years, and you come along and he's into you within a month."

Cinderheart's eyes were wide.

"So naturally, to some absurd scale in her mind, Heathertail's jealous. Insanely jealous even to the point where she's been on a warpath with you stuck in the crossfire since day one. If you thought that fist fight with the whip was horrible when you two were together; her reaction to him sleeping with you will be a hundred times worse, just watch."

Cinderheart stayed silent for a few minutes, processing the information. When she spoke again, it was such a quiet whisper that I barely heard her.

"I know…"

However a moment later she spoke properly of a completely different topic, diverting my attention from her quiet whisper. "Look, Ivypool, I wanted to apologize."

I lazily looked over at her. "what for?"

"For not trusting you. I'm sorry, but I just can't help it." Cinderheart explained with an apologetic expression. "I know it's illogical, but it's just the way I feel."

"It's okay Cinderheart, I don't hold it against you okay?" I exhaled sharply. "Now what's been bothering you all practice? You've been staring at me since minute one."

Cinderheart's eyes flickered towards the rest of the team and I silently got the message, moving closer to her and bending down a little so I could hear her better. "I need you to do something for me," she said quietly in a tone that made sure nobody else on the team could hear her including Lionblaze.

I felt my eyebrows furrowed together but nodded, "Okay, shoot."

"Promise me first."

I looked oddly at her, finding her insistence strange. However, knowing that she wouldn't make me do anything to put any of the group in danger I agreed. "Alright, I promise to do my best."

Cinderheart's blue eyes glittered with a rather grim fear as she spoke next, and I didn't like how she sounded like she knew something was going to happen. "Protect Lionblaze," she told me in a quiet but firm voice, "Keep him safe, no matter what anyone does to me."

I narrowed my eyes, "Cinderheart what're you talking about? You sound like you believe…" I instantly understood.

Cinderheart knew she was Lionblaze's weakness. Now more than ever after the information I had just given her, she knew that if the Dark Forest came after anyone to get to him, it would most certainly be her.

"I promise but on one condition," I told her, looking intensely at the other soccer player. "If something happens, you do what they tell you to do. Make them let their guard down, until the rest of us can bust you out." I offered her my hand in the form of a handshake, "Feel free to cry a fucking river too while you're at it." At Cinderheart's look of odd confusion I explained with a wry grin. "Heathertail's a sadist," I pointed out, "you bawl like a baby and she'll be eating it right up suspecting nothing. So cry like a little child and they'll think they've broken you, but you can't tell anyone else. I'll protect Lionblaze, you just worry about protecting yourself. You have enough on your plate without feeling responsible for that dumbass's safety."

Cinderheart's blue eyes glinted with a hidden steel that I could only hope was strong enough if anything did happen. "Deal," she shook my hand with all of the strength in her smaller hands, her grip just a little uncomfortably tight, "It's our secret."

"Our backup plan," I agreed and released the handshake, hoping that just this once StarClan would bless me with good luck that I'd need to be able to protect them all.

…

3rd Person:

When Heathertail entered the small room and grabbed Cinderheart by the collar of her shirt the silverette knew she was in a lot of trouble.

Fallen Leaves even got to his feet and moved to charge at Heathertail. Cinderheart gestured for him to stand down, which Fallen Leaves ignored. With a look of false resentment, Heathertail pulled a dagger not unlike Ivypool's out of a holster from her belt, and pressed it into Cinderheart's neck. A thin trail of blood dripped from the injury and disappeared into the hem of the silverette's blouse.

"Stay there," the blonde spat at Fallenleaves, "or I leave her comatose. Got it?"

Fallen Leaves looked like he still wanted to attack her, but when Cinderheart shook her head again with a tiny movement he retreated. Green eyes watching helplessly as Heathertail hauled Cinderheart to her feet and pulled her out the door.

The walk was short, only about two minutes, really. To Cinderheart, every second felt agonizing. She felt sick with fear, especially at the sight of the finely crafted whip at Heathertail's waist.

Cinderheart shivered slightly, Lionblaze had saved her from the whip last time, but now? This time there was nothing and nobody to protect her from Heathertail wrath. She steeled herself, and prepared for the worst.

"Guess what?" Heathertail eventually spoke, just as she hauled Cinderheart into another room and shoved her. The silverette toppled forward and landed face-first. The restraints had made it difficult for her to break her fall. Wincing, she pulled herself up.

Cinderheart didn't dare respond, keeping her mouth shut beyond the hiss of breath that escaped her lips. Her breath fogged in the cold air. Her ribs smarted.

Heathertail didn't wait for a response. She pressed her boot into Cinderheart's back and applied the pressure. The silverette's arms gave out, and she fell chest first onto the grubby linoleum. Heathertail's boot pressed even more still, keeping her pinned to the ground.

"Brokenstar issued new orders", the blond said, mock-conversationally. "I presume you'd want to hear them, isn't that right?"

Cinderheart clenched her teeth in fury and said nothing.

The pressure from Heathertail's foot vanished, leaving Cinderheart alone for a moment. What was Heathertail going to do to her?

No amount of preparation would have spared her. Just as she had started to relax, thinking that maybe Heathertail wouldn't do anything after all, a searing lash of white-hot pain burst over her back. Cinderheart let out a stifled wail, then forced herself into silence. Agony be damned, she wouldn't give Heathertail the pleasure of hearing her scream.

"You are to respond when I speak to you, is that understood?" Heathertail pulled back her arm for another blow, and again, the blinding pain overwhelmed her.

"Now." Another lash. Cinderheart could picture her back becoming a mess of flayed skin and blood. "An answer. I asked if you wanted to hear them."

Cinderheart choked down a whimper, and made an attempt at her usual casual tones. "Sure, what are they?"

Heathertail seemed unfazed. "Good," she purred, and Cinderheart could feel her walking around her, "you're learning. Now… I heard a mildly troubling rumor from one of the R-Fs. What do you suppose it could possibly be?"

"Hmmmmm", the silverette said mockingly. "That you're a sadist maniacal bitch who belongs in a mental institution? Because that isn't a rumor. That's fact."

As expected, she received a harsh punishing kick to the ribs that indicated her captor hadn't liked her answer.

"I don't know! As if I know what people like you talk about!" Cinderheart retorted hotly through the blood in her mouth coating her taste buds in copper.

"In that case, let me inform you. You see, I heard from someone that you and Lionblaze…"

Cinderheart didn't have to hear the rest of the sentence to know what she was talking about. Ivypool's words came flooding back. "...her reaction to him sleeping with you will be a hundred times worse, just watch…"

Her thoughts were broken by another crack of the whip in her ears and searing pain in her back, where she could feel the diagonal welts from one hip to the opposite shoulder burning and throbbing.

"Pay attention!"

"I… I am," Cinderheart snapped, voice hoarse.

Heathertail growled in anger and Cinderheart couldn't prevent the howl of pain this time. Her body folded in on itself, reverted to the fetal position as it tried to protect itself from Heathertail's attacks.

"There's that scream," Heathertail cackled as Cinderheart rolled onto her side with a low moan of pain. "Stay still, you bitch!", Heathertail growled and kicked Cinderheart sharply in the ribs, aiming for the newly broken ones.

Cinderheart's face drained of color, her features contorting with agony.

"Get over it," Heathertail rolled her eyes and spoke in an impassive drawl, "It's just your ribs."

Cinderheart managed to stop screaming after a moment and instead simply panted in short breaths, trying to breathe through the agony in her chest for the second time. She could barely see, her vision blurred by tears and fuzzy from the agony her body was in. Her breathing was harsh and uneven, rebounding along the walls as one of the only sounds in the room.

Heathertail's shoes made clicking noises as she walked over to the injured girl and casually took out her phone. "And now that that's temporarily taken care of, let's call Blazikins shall we?" she cooed in a mockingly sweet tone.

"Leave... him… alone…"

…

_This is technically an AU, buuut it's an approved AU ;)_

"It's Cinderheart…" Lionblaze spoke in a hushed voice, staring down at the smartphone. A small seed of hope had planted itself in his chest, and he found himself silently praying. Please, let it be Cinderheart...

"Well come on then! Answer it!" Jayfeather snapped at him, "Hurry!"

Lionblaze quickly did as his brother said, his thumb sliding across the screen to accept the call.

The line took a second to connect. When it did, short and uneven breaths were faintly audible through the other end of the call.

"Cindy what happened? Are you okay? How did you get loose?"

The voice that spoke instead sent shivers down both brothers' spine. "Wrong girl, Blazikins," a voice sneered. "But I shouldn't be rude, so say hello,Cinderheart."

Nothing for a moment, then a hissing breath of pain. "Come on, greet your boyfriend Cindy," Heathertail cooed and Lionblaze felt his blood boil.

"Hi… Lion...blaze…" Cinderheart croaked. She wheezed. It sounded like every breath was a struggle.

"What do you want Heathertail?" Lionblaze spat into the phone as they walked, snarling.

"Take the phone off speaker first, I have a question for you that's only for the three of us."

"Fine," Lionblaze spat and removed the phone from speaker before he put it up to his ear. "Now what do you fucking want?"

"Interesting choice of words Blazikins," Heathertail purred, "after all, that has to do with my question for you, and I want a truthful answer otherwise Cinderheart's going to feel the consequences."

"Don't you dare touch her," Lionblaze snarled and struggled to keep from hitting something out of rage. "You touch a hair on her head and I swear to StarClan I'll make you regret it."

Heathertail giggled into the phone, "Oh babe you're so funny," she giggled then her voice turned serious. "Now here's the question. I heard a rumor the other day about you, and this apprentice. You two slept together, is that true?"

Lionblaze's face lost all color. He was silent.

"Wrong answer Lionblaze," Heathertail snarled in a sweet tone and Lionblaze's face went even paler at Cinderheart's short but pain filled scream. There was a thud as Cinderheart's body hit the floor, having lost consciousness.

"I've spent years trying to get your attention and _she_ comes along and gets that?!" Heathertail raged. "What does she have that I don't?" Not waiting for a reply, she carried on. "It's not like I'm a model for nothing, you know. Sure she's not ugly, but next to me, she's nothing! Everyone in this school….they either want to sleep with me, or _be_ me. So why not you?"

Heathertail's voice lost the vulnerability it had had before, and suddenly it was frigid and unforgiving. "You know what, Lionblaze? They want to kill you. I was going to do it quickly, a mercy kill if you will. But the more I think about it, the more I think that it would be a…..waste. It's not every day that I'll have someone like you at my mercy. And if you're not willing to give yourself to me, I'll have to take it by force."

Lionblaze's eyes were wide in horror. "You're depraved", he whispered.

"I don't need morality to make you mine."

It was silent for a moment then there was an irritated huff from Heathertail and a whimper of pain from Cinderheart along with more of her broken breathing. "Whatever, I'll deal with that later," she huffed, "now check your messages babe, look how much fun everyone's having!"

Lionblaze did, but he also slammed the door to his dorm open so hard that it rattled on its hinges. "How dare you?!" Lionblaze snarled in the phone, amber eyes and body language trembling with rage. "And what did you do to Cinderheart, you bitch? Release her!"

"Sorry Blazikins," Heathertail apologized with mock sincerity, "but Brokenstar didn't order me to do that, he's rather displeased with you you know. You did disobey him after all, so your friends are taking the heat."

There was another low groan of pain from Cinderheart and Heathertail chuckled, "This in entirely your fault you know? You should've just stayed with me and obeyed Brokenstar like a good little boy. Instead you rebelled and left me for this pathetic excuse for a girl."

"Shut up," Lionblaze snarled in the phone but his expression changed to be rather pinched and miserable as Heathertail continued to speak.

"Cinderheart broke almost immediately, started bawling like a child in minutes. Is that really the kind of girl you want to be with Blazikins?" Heathertail laughed, "even Half Moon didn't! And I can tell you that I certainly wouldn't have burst into tears like that."

"People like you aren't capable of human emotion, let alone tears."

There was a low groan as Cinderheart began waking up.

Heathertail chuckled but mostly ignored them both, speaking in that fake, sickening simper. "Here's what's going to happen. You're going to go to Firestar and call of the minor search for the missing students by going to him personally and telling him that Cinderheart, Half Moon, and Fallen Leaves are safe with their parents."

"Go to hell!" Lionblaze cursed, "why the hell would I do that?"

"Because I'll let you talk to your precious girlfriend for about thirty seconds," Heathertail cooed, "after all, can't let you completely give up on her if you're not coming back to me right? You both have to make it through Brokenstar's game first."

Lionblaze said nothing for a moment, but when he did his voice was rather hoarse. "Okay, I'll do it. Let me talk to her."

"Here's your precious cry baby off speaker phone," Heathertail giggled and Lionblaze heard the phone being placed on the floor. "You have thirty seconds Cinderheart, don't start coughing up a lung or something just yet okay?" The warning seemed to come through crystal clear to the silverette.

"Okay," Cinderheart's voice was more raspy than before. Like her throat was raw from screaming.

"Cindy?" Lionblaze's voice broke, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Cinderheart rasped and Lionblaze heard her sniffle a little, "I'm okay, better than Half Moon and her allergies."

"What did she do do you?" Lionblaze asked her softly, worried about her.

"Nothing I can't handle," Cinderheart broke into a series of wheezing wet coughs and Lionblaze felt panic rise in his chest.

"Cinderheart! Are you okay?"

"I'm… fine… my ribs… act up," Cinderheart wheezed once the coughs ended and Lionblaze had to swallow hard to clear the growing lump in his throat.

"Are you okay?"

"Make a plan," Cinderheart wheezed hard, her words barely understandable now, "talk to Ivypool… I need… to stop… talking… I can't… breathe…"

"No! Just tell me if your okay! Talk to me Cinderheart!" He pleaded.

"I'm… okay..." Cinderheart wheezed, telling him what he wanted to hear. "I'm... okay…"

"You sound like your dying over there Cinderheart!" Lionblaze explained, his voice panicked, "what's wrong?"

"..." no response from Cinderheart, just a lot of harsh wheezing that turned into another coughing fit.

"Don't worry Blazikins," Heathertail's voice came over the phone and Cinderheart's coughs lessened in volume as the phone was moved away from her. "I won't let her die just yet, we can't have her dying on us." Her voice changed to be rather wicked sounding, "not if I want my revenge."

"I'm going to kill you Heathertail," he snarled, trembling from rage and worry about his coughing girlfriend. "Just you wait you bitch!"

"Get in line blaze," Heathertail giggled, "you're not the first one to have told me that."

With that the call ended, severing Lionblaze's link to Cinderheart once again.

* * *

******End Bonus Story**

Tigercry: And that's a wrap! 7 thousand words later, a day and a half of frantic scrambling through previous chapters, writing and listening to music till my ears are bleeding, and a month of figuring out all the details, the bonus story is all done! XD Any comments Azra?

Azra: oooooooof. I feel so sorry for them both. Heathertail's off her rocker, I know I certainly wouldn't want to be in her company XD

Azra out!

Tigercry: Frankly I wouldn't either XD Let us know if you like the idea of this joint account and how the story went in the reviews down below! :D

Until next time!

~Tigercry


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